peanut soba noodle bowls

by jenna on May 2, 2011

Hello, friends.

Hello, May!

Raise your hand if you can’t believe it’s already May. May makes me want to strip down to a bikini (or one piece bathing suit, rather!) and jump into crystal clear blue water. May also makes me want to go shopping for lots of summer clothes that I really don’t need.

Actually, since we’re talking about, last week I tweeted out about how I had the undeniable urge to go shopping. Someone responded to me by saying “every time I have that craving I throw money towards paying off my school loan”.

Genius.

But it didn’t happen. Instead I bought some ballet flats on sale and a pair of new ten dollar sunglasses because that’s how I roll.

I also bought this stuff:

Because I wanted to get healthy. And what’s healthier than bok choy, tofu and peanut butter????!

Noodle bowls make me feel healthy because they contain green things. Sometimes even, I’ll drink green tea while I eat the green things. But that doesn’t happen often so don’t get your panties tied up in a bunch.

The sauce is made from yummy things like peanut butter, ginger, soy sauce and red pepper flakes. It’s pretty addicting. I like to call dinners like this “girl food” because if were to give Adam a bowl of boy choy and tofu he would think I’m kidding or something.

Cook the noodles in boiling salted water then drain and rinse with cold water. Set aside.

Make the dressing by combining all ingredients in a blender or food processor and blending until smooth, adding more warm water for a thinner sauce if desired.

Heat up a large skillet over medium high heat and heat up canola oil. Once the skillet is very hot, add the tofu pieces and sear on both sides for about four minutes, or until a nice golden crust has formed. Be careful not to stir the tofu around while cooking, just flip once and then remove from heat.

Add the tofu to the noodles along with the bell pepper slices. Bring another pot of water to a boil and quickly blanch the bok choy for about thirty seconds. Remove, squeeze away extra water and then roughly chop and add to the noodle mixture as well.

Divide noodles amongst four bowls and add about a tablespoon of dressing to each bowl. Top each bowl with fresh minced cilantro and serve.

YUM. I make a dish really similar to this all the time because it’s so fast + easy + delicious! I usually just use whatever veggies I have on hand at the time, but I’ve never tried bok choy. Great addition!

I love dishes like this! I never feel like mine come out as well, so I will definitely be trying this recipe.
My boyfriend is actually really good at making peanut noodles, but yeah, I have to beg for them. He’s only likely to eat the tofu if it is fried. Which is, of course, delicious. But, I’m happy to have a ‘girl version’ at my disposal!

MM i love peanut sauce on thai/chinese food. I went to a sushi restaurant the other day and they had something called the Nutty Roll. As you can probably guess it was a combination of peanut butter and shrimp tempura topped with eel and avocado. its’ pretty un-friggin-believable!

Brian tolerated eating tofu and I think he actually enjoys it now. …last night he was helping me make a stir fry (recipe to come!) and as I was turning around, I saw him pop a peice of the cold, ‘raw’ tofu into his mouth. His face looked kinda scared and so I asked how it was and he said, ‘not as bad as I thought’. lol!! Love that guy.

Jenna this looks so yummy… except for the cilantro! {Sorry cilantro lovers! Blame my genetics!} I have never cooked with tofu before — I’m kind of scared of it, but for meatless mondays it may be just the thing.

I WISH I had the kind of self restraint to not indulge in occasional retail therapy, never mind being able to put that money towards loans. Amazing. Also amazing is that recipe, I can’t wait to try it – I loves me a good peanut sauce.

I love noodles. And have been wanting to try Soba noodles. Nothing more quick and comforting than noodles with veggies, chicken, marina sauce – and cheese You knew that was going in there…double dose. Ugh

“I like to call dinners like this “girl food” because if were to give Adam a bowl of boy choy and tofu he would think I’m kidding or something”–

My husband would have thought the same thing 12 years ago. Fast forward to today..and he gets down on his knees and thanks me for changing his eating habits and helping him lose 50 lbs AND that our 4 yr old daughter loves peanut sauce baked tofu and kale salads. She’s 4

I made this recipe last night (and ate the rest for lunch today, ha) and, oh my, it was delicious. Even my husband, Mr. If It Doesn’t Have Meat It’s Not a Meal, loved it and has already asked when I will make it again. But my favorite thing about this recipe? I had nearly everything already in my pantry. I love it when that happens.

I want this like it’s nobody’s business. I’ve been thinking of peanut noodles all day, and here they are right in front of me. I don’t buy bok choy often for some reason, tomorrow will be the day, it’s going on the grocery list. this looks so delicious…I’m so in the mood to be healthy.

Just made this for the family. It turned out great! Unfortunately, I didn’t have my food processor handy as we are living in an apartment temporarily and it is packed in storage. I adapted by heating up the ingredients in a sauce pan and using sriracha instead of the red pepper flakes. Sooo good. I’ll be making this again soon!

I am really late to this party, but I just came here to chime in that this recipe is ridiculously delicious. I am tofu-averse, so I made do without any protein, but I think this would be really good with chicken too. I made the sauce before I finished the rest of the dish, and I was going to say “it’s too salty, it’s too thin”….(probably a result of using regular soy sauce because I didn’t know what “tamari” was until 3 minutes ago)… but when I combined everything, it was still perfect. Cheap, fast, delicious, and healthy

Hi! Relatively new reader here. Just wanted you to know I made this tonight for dinner.. and it was divine. My husband, my 2 y/o and I enjoyed this so much. We love the combo of the peanut, ginger, and cilantro.. they all make for such fantastic flavour. It’s so addictive I am having my second bowl now. Guess tomorrow I must run.

Thank you for a brilliant recipe, I can’t wait to try your other recipes.